Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Mysterious Dog Virus – Should we be scared?

Typically a non pet owner, doesn’t think twice about an illness
infecting dogs. We may glance at the news and go, ‘Oh that’s a shame,’ but if
we don’t have a pet, it doesn’t affect us .. right? Or should I say ‘infect’.

When I first heard of this mysterious virus, I immediately
thought of the movie, ‘Conquest of the Planet of the Apes’. Where pets are apes because there are no cats and dogs. Ricardo Montalban’s characters tells Caesar, the ape. "They all died. Within a few months. Eight years ago. Every single dog
and cat in the world. It was like a plague. The disease that killed them was a mysterious
virus.”

Sound familiar? Almost eerily prophetic.

A ‘form’ of this mystery virus has surfaced in the past. But
this one, this new one, killing dogs within days if not hours of infection, is
bold and brash. New and mutated. It hits, infects, devastates and kills. The
pets suffers so much that the only recourse is euthanasia to stop their misery.

This has species extinction level potential.

Not much is being said, because no one really is standing up
and paying attention to the vets. After all, they’re just dogs, right? They are
yelling out and no one hears.

We should.

This mystery illness is being called an evolved form of Circovirus.
But even samples aren’t matching anything
they knew. Post Mortem tissue samples of the dogs … breed nothing recognizable.
No sign of the virus at all in some cases.

This form of virus, or something very similar, is typically seen in two species. Pigs and
birds. (Got the swine flu willies don’t ya).

A virus mutates and evolves when it jumps from one species
to another, start with a bird one way, hit a pig another, and infect a human a
whole other way.

Did this jump from pig to dog? How? It is speculated via
humans. Speculated by the vets. Many are saying that pet owners are showing flu
symptoms when they bring in the dogs, and sequentially, Vet Clinic workers are
falling ill after dealing with the sick dogs. Not deathly ill, and hopefully,
not yetl.

But is this an act of nature of a lab mishap. Oddly enough, Michigan is an infected state not
long after they initiated the Invasive Species Order. Which is described by the farming consumer
site as: The order was issued by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) in December 2010 to prohibit “feral” swine which are identified by such
ubiquitous characteristics that most any swine, especially heritage breeds
raised on family farms, are unjustly threatened with eradication.

Tossing out a conspiracy theory, could this be the way to eradicate
the Invasive Species and it just got out of control? After all, the Mystery dog
virus is airborne.

But should we, as people be concerned? Yes. Why? This is
being labeled as a zoonotic infection. Simply, that is a virus or infection
that can jump and spread between vertebrae species. If it can jump, it can
mutate, if it jumps from your neighbors pet fido, it could mutate when it hits
you. Those suspected as being infected by their dogs are merely sniffling and
coughing now, but its possible it won’t always be like that.